Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The warmth and joy of childhood, perfectly captured in manga form

Yotsuba&! (Vols 1-15) by Kiyihiko Azuma

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CBR14Bingo: Heart (this manga is full of heart and warm feelings) I honestly find it easier to write negative reviews than positive ones, because when I love a book intensely it’s hard to come up with something beyond “I love this! Read it!” But I will do my best to get across why you should spend some time in the world of Yotsuba&!. This series follows an extremely energetic 5-year old, the titular Yotsuba, and her adventures. In the first volume, she and her dad move […]

“Our mothers are our first teachers, and we teach others the same lessons we learn from them.” Caroline Kennedy

Mama Needs A Minute by Nicole Sloan

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Let’s talk about bodily autonomy, caregiving (specific to this book, it’s mothering, but it’s not always), and – if you’re a caregiver of a small child especially, why you laughed out loud at the beginning of this sentence. It’s because MOST small children have zero concept of personal space or bodily autonomy, have no problem being attached to their favorite humans 24/7, and would be deeply offended by the idea that their favorite humans might feel differently. Enter Mama Needs A Minute by Nicole Sloan. […]

How to teach your kids to build a “better, fairer, stronger world”

How to Raise Kids Who Aren't Assholes by Melinda Wenner Moyer

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CBR13Bingo: Pandemic Because if there’s anything I learned during the pandemic, it’s parenting my little gremlins is hard work and I need all the help I can get! While I wouldn’t consider myself a stellar parent by any measure, I enjoy reading about parenting studies and generally try to do my best for my kids. So I picked this up not expecting to learn too much new information, only to be completely gobsmacked by how much of my general liberal parenting knowledge was completely wrong – […]

Horizontal is just the way some of us live

Horizontal Parenting How to Entertain Your Kid While Lying Down by Michelle Woo

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Guys: I don’t even know how to explain to you how validating this book is.  I’ve been helping raise kids, while also living with chronic debilitating illnesses & disabilities for 27 years now.  Very often, that raising occurs from a horizontal position, out of necessity.  Oh, today we’re have vertigo for no goddamn reason? Great day to play Auntie NTE is the troll under the bridge who won’t let you pass. Oh, goodie, the treatment I had last week that was supposed to only have 1 […]

Retro But Somehow Modern (?) Parenting Advice

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish

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I have heard of How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk a few times, so I knew it was something of a classic in parenting literature. I didn’t know how much of a classic, however, until I read some of the example scenarios. “Just you touch that lamp once more and you’ll get a smack!” is listed as an example of how threats don’t work, and while I agree, I cannot imagine a parenting book in 2021 even acknowledging that […]

Did I go off on a little bit of a tangent? Yes. But was I wrong…?

What Happened to You by James Catchpole

Love Makes A Family by Sophie Beer

Kindness Makes Us Stronger by Sophie Beer

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When I think about the kids we’re raising, as a whole right now, I’m so goddamn hopeful for the future that I can’t even really express it, for fear of losing my “unaffected internet witch” cool points (Note: I do not actually have any of those points). But it’s true: I have been a part of raising the children in my life for 25-ish years now, and – as the aunt of two adult niblings, a couple of teenage ones, and a handful of under […]



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